Preparation of Feasibility & Detailed Project Report for Detailed Project Report

4/6 Laning of Anantapur (km 336) to Karnataka Border (km 463.6) of NH-7 Chapter 1: Design Standards

CHAPTER 1: DESIGN STANDARDS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 DESIGN STANDARDS......................................................................................................................................1
1.1 GENERAL ..........................................................................................................................................................1
1.2 TERRAIN CLASSIFICATION....................................................................................................................................1
1.3 GUIDING PRINCIPLES ..........................................................................................................................................1
1.4 DESIGN SPEED....................................................................................................................................................1
1.5 CROSS-SECTIONAL ELEMENTS..............................................................................................................................2
1.5.1 ROW (Right of Way)...............................................................................................................................2
1.5.2 Lane Width..............................................................................................................................................2
1.5.3 Paved Shoulders......................................................................................................................................2
1.5.4 Unpaved Shoulders.................................................................................................................................2
1.5.5 Median....................................................................................................................................................2
1.5.6 Service Road ..........................................................................................................................................2
1.5.7 Side Slopes..............................................................................................................................................2
1.6 SIGHT DISTANCE................................................................................................................................................3
1.7 HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT....................................................................................................................................3
1.7.1 Radii of Curve.........................................................................................................................................3
1.7.2 Super-elevation.......................................................................................................................................3
1.7.3 Transition Curves....................................................................................................................................3
1.8 VERTICAL ALIGNMENT........................................................................................................................................4
1.9 VERTICAL CURVES..............................................................................................................................................4
1.10 CROSS FALL.....................................................................................................................................................4
1.11 GEOMETRIC DESIGN CONTROL............................................................................................................................4
1.12 ROADWAY WIDTH AT CULVERTS........................................................................................................................5
1.13 STANDARDS FOR AT-GRADE INTERSECTIONS.........................................................................................................5
1.14 TRAFFIC SIGNS AND ROAD MARKINGS.................................................................................................................5

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4/6 Laning of Anantapur (km 336) to Karnataka Border (km 463.6) of NH-7 Chapter 1: Design Standards

1 DESIGN STANDARDS

1.1 General
The proposed Project road is a four lane divided carriageway, a part of NH-7 connecting Bangalore
and Hyderabad Cities. The Project road, which is a part of North South Corridor, starts at km 336.0
North of Anantapur and ends at 463.6 km , Karnataka State border.

The proposed road with improved geometry is to be constructed as high-speed highway with divided
carriageway configuration and partially controlled access.

This section describes the standards and principles based on which the various designs will be carried
out. These proposed standards are consistent with the parameters recommended in the relevant
standards of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC). The aim of this chapter is to evolve Design Standards
and Material Specifications for the study primarily based on IRC publications and MORT&H / NHAI
circulars and relevant recommendations from the international standards and to recommend the same
for concurrence/approval of NHAI.

1.2 Terrain Classification

The following terrain classification recommended by IRC-73 is adopted:
Terrain Classification Percentage Slope of the Country
Plain 0 – 10
Rolling >10 – 25
The proposed alignment follows the plain and rolling terrain as per above classification and thus
geometric designs are prepared based on IRC: 73-1980 for plain terrain.

1.3 Guiding Principles

While doing the geometric design, following are taken into consideration:
• The designed facility shall not become obsolescent before the design year.
• Design shall be consistent and the standards followed for different elements shall be compatible
with one another.
• The design shall cover all geometric aspects of road including signages, grade separated
structures, ROB's, etc.
• The design will be done aiming at minimizing the vehicle operating cost including initial cost,
cost of maintenance etc.
• The design will take into consideration the environmental, aesthetic and landscaping aspects of
the project road
1.4 Design Speed
Design speed is the basic parameter, which determines the geometric features of the road. The
proposed design speeds for different terrain categories as per IRC-73 are as follows:
Terrain Design Speed (kph)
Categories
Desirable Minimum
Plain 100 80
Rolling 80 65

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4/6 Laning of Anantapur (km 336) to Karnataka Border (km 463.6) of NH-7 Chapter 1: Design Standards

The proposed alignment runs predominantly on plain terrain interspersed with rolling terrain in few
stretches. For road stretches passing through open areas, the speeds corresponding to plain terrain
is proposed i.e. 100 kph.

1.5 Cross-Sectional Elements

1.5.1 ROW (Right of Way)
The proposed ROW shall be 30m on either side of centreline of the proposed alignment. This would
account space for future widening and service roads. 3.0m wide utility service corridors are proposed
at both the edges with in ROW.
1.5.2 Lane Width
The width of a basic traffic lane is taken to be 3.5 m. Thus, for 2-lane and 3-lane carriageways, the
carriageway widths will be 7.0 m and 10.5 m, respectively. The 0.25 m wide edge strip along the
median kerb will provide compensation for kerb shyness.
1.5.3 Paved Shoulders
Full strength pavement for paved shoulders is proposed on main carriageway. Width of these
shoulders will be 1.5m. This will provide for better traffic operation conditions, lower maintenance
and facility of directly using these as part of carriageway when the road is widened on these sides.
1.5.4 Unpaved Shoulders
These are proposed to be 1.0m wide on both sides of main carriageway and on one side of service
roads.
1.5.5 Median
The project road will have raised median and its width is proposed to be 4.5m wide inclusive of the
175mm thick non-mountable concrete kerb at both the edges throughout the length.
1.5.6 Service Road
Service roads, 7.0m/5.5m in width has been proposed in major towns and villages along the route
where there is a heavy build up of vehicles parked on the road or that cross the main road. Service
roads have been provided on either side of the 4-lane carriageway and pedestrian/light vehicle
underpasses are provided to connect the majority of these, thus allowing the free flow of light traffic
within towns/ villages without accessing the main carriageway.
Service roads are designed to be two-ways with turning areas where required and are linked to the
main carriageway generally at each end by one way deceleration and acceleration lanes/splays.
Service roads are generally kept at existing ground level due to their use to serve adjacent properties,
whereas the main carriageway is a located on low embankment in order to prevent pavement flooding.
In order to accommodate this difference in level, retaining walls are necessary to support the main
carriageway where land acquisition has been minimized.
1.5.7 Side Slopes
For fill sections, the following side slopes are proposed:
Fill height up to 3.0 m - 2H: 1V
Fill height from 3.0 m to 6.0 m - 1.5H: 1V
Fill height exceeding 6.0 m - To be designed based on soil parameters. (IRC: 75)

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4/6 Laning of Anantapur (km 336) to Karnataka Border (km 463.6) of NH-7 Chapter 1: Design Standards

1.6 Sight Distance

Safe stopping sight distance, both in the vertical and horizontal directions will apply in design. The
sight distance values as per IRC recommendations are as follows:
Safe stopping sight
Design Speed (kph)
distance (m)

100 180
80 130
1.7 Horizontal Alignment
1.7.1 Radii of Curve
The proposed alignment predominantly runs on plain terrain interspersed with rolling terrain in few
stretches and wherever curves are to be designed, the same shall have minimum radius as per IRC.
Adopting a maximum value of 5% for super elevation and 15% for side friction factor, the minimum
radius for horizontal curves for design speed of 100 kph works out to be as follows as per IRC: 38 /
IRC SP-48.
Radius of horizontal
Terrain
curves (m)
Categories
Desirable Minimum
Plain 360 230
Considering for easy manoeuvrability of heavy vehicles and to have improved visibility in curves,
minimum horizontal radius of 500m is adopted in the design.
1.7.2 Super-elevation
The super elevation at curves is arrived at as per the following equation:
V2
= e+f
gR
where :
V -
Vehicle speed in m/sec.
g Acceleration due to gravity in meters/sec2
-
e -
Super elevation ratio in meter per meter
f -
Coefficient of side friction between vehicle
tyre and pavement (taken as 0.15)
R - Radius in meters.
The super elevation is calculated keeping in view the horizontal radii and gradient at curves at
different locations and maximum super-elevation is restricted to 5%.
1.7.3 Transition Curves
The following two formulae shall be used for calculating the transition lengths and maximum will be
adopted for design:

Ls = 2.7 V2 / R From IRC 73

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Ls = 0.0215 V3/ CR

Where:
R - Radius of curve in meters
V - Vehicle speed in Km/hour
Ls - Length of transition in meters
C - Rate of change of acceleration.
The adopted values of transition lengths as per IRC: 73 are given in table below for design speed of
100 kph and keeping the minimum radius as 500m.
Curve Radius
500 600 700 800 900 1000 1200 1500 1800 2000
(R), m
Transition
95 80 70 60 55 50 40 35 30 NR
Length, m
NR-Not Required

1.8 Vertical Alignment

The vertical alignment of the carriageway is generally compatible with the guidelines given in the
IRC and have maximum gradient of 2.5 % on flyover ramps.
• At locations of grade break of 0.5%, vertical curves will be provided.
• The length of vertical curve will be not less than 0.6V (kph) i.e., 60m for 100kph design speed.
• Number of PVI will not be more than 4 in one km.
• Minimum vertical grade of 0.3% are provided for drainage.
• At locations of sight deficiency, at least Stopping Sight Distance (SSD) will be provided.

1.9 Vertical Curves

Vertical curves are designed to provide for visibility atleast corresponding to the safe stopping sight
distance. More liberal values are adopted wherever this is economically feasible. Valley curves are
designed for headlight sight distance. The ‘K’ values for design control and the minimum length of
vertical curves are be as follows:
‘K’ value for summit ‘K’ value for valley Minimum
Terrain
curves curves length of curve
Categories
Desirable Minimum Desirable Minimum (m)
Plain 74 38 42 28 60
Rolling 38 18 28 18 50
1.10 Cross fall
Each carriageway will have unidirectional cross fall. The cross fall for the pavement and paved
shoulders is 2.5%. For earthen shoulders, the corresponding value will be 3.0%.

1.11 Geometric Design Control

As the project is to be developed as a partially access controlled highway facility with appropriate
measures to provide access to inhabitants nearby, the design of geometric elements will therefore take
into account the essential requirements of such facilities.
The detailed design for geometric elements covers, but not be limited to the following major aspects:
• Horizontal alignment

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• Longitudinal Profile
• Cross-sectional elements
• Junctions, intersections and grade separators
• Pedestrian/Cattle/Light vehicle underpasses

1.12 Roadway Width at Culverts

The culverts will be built to the same width as the flanking roadway and will be designed following
IRC: SP-13.

1.13 Standards for At-Grade Intersections

The standards proposed in IRC SP: 41 “Guidelines for the Design of At-Grade Intersection in Rural
and Urban Areas” will be applied.

1.14 Traffic signs and Road Markings

The design of traffic signs and road marking shall be done according to the IRC standards.
Following is the list of IRC standards, which will be followed:
IRC – 30 - Standard letter and numbers of different heights for
NH signs
IRC – 35 - Code of practice for Road marking
IRC – 67 - Code of practice for Road Signs
IRC – 79 - Recommended Practice for Road delineators
IRC – 93 - Guidelines and design
IRC: SP –31 - New Traffic Signs

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